Wednesday, September 18, 2019

What hotter than normal nighly temps mean!

In 2015, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration noted that, "As the world warms, nighttime temperatures are slightly outpacing daytime temperatures in the rate of warming."

The following year, 2016 ranked as the third warmest year ever in the United States when looking at average temperatures. But when looking at the nation's overnight minimums, 2016's were the warmest ever. This summer beat that record again, with the nationally averaged minimum hitting 60.9 degrees Fahrenheit in the contiguous U.S.— 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit above average.


My data for 2019 (for the first half of the month of September), which should see average nightly lows at about 58 degrees have been blown out of the water... The above graph shows that, on average, we were 14 degrees warmer than what had been the average for the past thirty years....